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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27567208">Postcards From Chicago</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wagenenr/pseuds/Wagenenr'>Wagenenr</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Blaseball (Video Game)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Chicago Firefighters (Blaseball Team), Gen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-11-15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 20:14:18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,996</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27567208</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wagenenr/pseuds/Wagenenr</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Declan Suzanne is a sad boy. Peanut Holloway knows this because they have read it in a book. Sadness is an affliction that will hurt Declan's Blaseball and Firefighting performance. Peanut devises a treatment.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peanut Holloway &amp; Declan Suzanne, Peanut Holloway &amp; Goobie Ballson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>We Are Fanwork Creators</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The Human Condition, AKA Tourism</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This first chapter is mostly setup for my robot-turned-person dad &amp; son Chicago themed vignettes that will encompass the rest of this fic.<br/>Also, this is the first fic I have written in many years, and the first I have posted to AO3. Please be kind, but no matter what thank you for reading and we are all love Blaseball.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Declan Suzanne was a sad boy. Peanut Holloway knew this. They knew this because Declanne had displayed all of the signs of emotional trauma that Holloway had read in a book in the Firehouse. Holloway also knew from the book that sadness had a number of negative side effects. It might cause Declan to become more isolated, which would affect team cohesion, it opened Declan up to making many mistakes that would be detrimental to his health, lowering his stats and therefore Blaseball performance. Peanut Holloway could not allow a player on their own team to remain in such a state. </p><p>Peanut Holloway did not know how to make someone happy. They didn’t <em> really </em> remember what it was, but they did at least know it was the solution to sadness, so they got to researching. After making their way through the Firehouse they managed to find Declan’s xx08 gaming computer stowed away in a back closet. Holloway brought it before Declan to ask for permission to use, and after Declan slightly looked up and gave a, “mm?” Holloway took it as permission. After reading “HELP! for the Computer shy”, Peanut thought they had acquired enough knowledge to use the machine. Satisfied that they had gathered enough knowledge to use the machine. After plugging in the computer they went to connect  the router, only finding that there were no remaining ethernet cables for them to use. Undeterred, they tied copper wire around a peanut on each end, presuming that a peanut could at least work as well as a human cord, if not better. </p><p>After turning on the computer Peanut was pleased that his cord had worked, and that it did improve on the computer experience by providing a pleasant scent of freshly roasted peanuts to the room. His pleasure evaporated as the pleasant smell had become quite unpleasant along with the black smoke that started to fill the room. <em> How do the others enjoy the internet when it becomes this hard to see? </em> They thought. Just as the darkness was getting too thick to see through Goobie burst through the door with a fire extinguisher, dousing the flames that Peanut had failed to notice enveloping the router. Once the flames had subsided Goobie looked Peanut square in their void and said, “Electrical fires are no joke bruv. High Five!” Goobie then attempted to assault Holloway with his open palm, luckily they put their hand up just in time to block Gobbie’s own. “Hell yeah peanut dude,” Goobie said, then walked away. Declan came by and looked into the room with those big sad eyes of his. He removed one side of his headphones and said, “You know that thing has a wifi card installed, right?” then placed the pad back on his ear and added, “also, what's up with your peanut?” before walking away. Peanut looked down at themself to see what he had meant and saw that one of his peanuts had become an amorphous blob. At once they attempted to eject it from their self, but it refused to leave as the peanuts would. They took one more moment to gaze upon it before returning to their work.</p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>The next day Peanut Holloway went to find Declan Suzanne. This was not difficult, as Peanut had studied Declan’s daily patterns while attempting to diagnose him with what they found out to be sadness. During this time of day, the ~2pm-~2am window, Declan would most likely be found in the breakroom, sitting in front of a screen displaying some kind of simulated warfare, or sometimes a simulated splort. Some other captains mingled around Declan as he looked through them at the screen.</p><p>“Ahem, Declan Suzanne of the Chicago Firefighters, the town and team which we are from. You must now take a shower.”</p><p>Declan slipped one ear out of his headset, “Yeah, okay.” Then slowly got up and left the room. When Holloway turned around, they found Rivers Rosa looking at them with a look of incredulous shock.</p><p>“You <b>have</b> to teach me how to do that,” said Rivers.</p><p>“Do… what?” </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>When Declan walked out of the showers freshly washed, he almost walked directly into Peanut Holloway, who between being mostly invisible, and standing much too close to the door, was both easy to miss and in a very bad location.</p><p>“Woah, hey.”</p><p>“Hello Declan Suzanne of the Chicago Firefighters, the town and team which we are from. I have brought you these tennis shoes which I have thus far managed to keep out of the grasping mitts of those shoe thieves in Charlston. You will wear them for our Vacation.”</p><p>“Wait, uh, what vacation?”</p><p>“I have been researching on the internet how to cure you of your sadness, firs-”</p><p>“Hey! I’m not… sad, I just, I, I don’t really want to talk about it okay.”</p><p>“Understood, we will not discuss the cause of your sadness. Regardless, using the website PopPsy Today, I have created a list of treatments for your condition. First was taking a shower. Next is a vacation.”</p><p>“But, even if we did go on vacation, how could we? We have to be here for practice, and to put out fires.”</p><p>“Exactly the issue I faced when planning this procedure,”</p><p>“ᵖˡᵉᵃˢᵉ ᵈᵒⁿᵗ ᶜᵃˡˡ ᶦᵗ ᵗʰᵃᵗ”</p><p>“But then I read that one of the top places for vacationing is the town of Chicago, which we are from. Therefore we will be committing tourism around this very city, beginning immediately.”</p><p>“Uh,” Holloway was swiftly moving towards the door, “okay, I guess I’m doing this.” Declan grabbed a firecoat by the door and hurried after Holloway.</p><p><br/>
<br/>
<br/>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Slears Tower, the Tower of Quiet Truths</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The first leg of Peanuts tourism brings them and Declan to the Slears Tower, the Tower of Quiet Truths.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I'm realizing while writing this that my perception of Chicago is somewhat influenced by the final season of the Magnus Archives. I will say no more on that front for fear of spoilers, but I think my conceptualization of how Chicago of the Immaterial Plane shows its influence on its sleeve.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  
</p><p>Declan finally caught up to Peanut on the ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ side of the Chicago River. </p><p>"Jlesus, you walk fast for someone with no visible feet."</p><p>"Declan Suzanne of the Chicago Firefighters, the city and team of which we are from, you're athletic performance is being inhibited by your sedentary daily routine and poor dietary habits. Hopefully our tourism will help with your routine, but as a start for your diet I have provided you a bottle to drink." Holloway took out a Mountain Dew bottle from the pack they were wearing and handed it to Declan. Declan cautiously  started to unscrew the cap, before retching and screwing the cap back on.</p><p>"Ew, what the fuck? No. Did you put water in this?"</p><p>"Water is recommended to help maintain a healthy body, where your drink of choice is recommended against. I have helped you transition by putting water in a more comfortable receptacle for you."</p><p>"Dude, I do <b>not</b> drink fucking <em>water</em>, okay? That shit is for normies."</p><p>A moment passed. Peanut looked at Declan expectantly. The look of disgust on Declan's face transformed back into one of quiet sorrow. He took a breath before speaking, "Look, I'm sorry, I fucking guess. Just, why are we out here anyways? Like, I told you I'm fine and yet you've dragged my ass all the way out to..." Declan's words trailed off as he looked at where Peanut had dragged his ass to. Before him was the Slears Tower, the Tower of quiet truths. It brimstone siding beamed with the mild rays of the Chicago sun. Out its windows shot the terrible light of a thousand empty rooms, and the yet more terrible light of those that were occupied. Declan had heard whispers of the tower, of its power, but had never been ⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛⬛ enough to see it.</p><p>"Why, why are we here?"</p><p>"TripAdvisor recommended it as a must see in Chicago!"</p><p>Declan grumbled something about regretting letting Peanut use his computer, but he had come all the way out here, and Declan Suzanne does not go out of his way for nothing. </p><p>Declan followed Peanut's lead into the building. On the inside was a pleasantly decorated lobby with several tasteful hanging plants, a rug with a diamond pattern, and a seven foot mural of the Boss behind the front desk. There stood a perfectly pleasant  person who's name-tag read: Sharon, She/Her. Peanut approached the woman with no trepidation. Declan followed them with considerably more.</p><p>"Hello, Sharon. I would be interested in purchasing a tour of your tower!"</p><p>"Of course Mx Holloway, though I must say that here we only deal in truths, and in truth this is not my tower, but <em>our</em> tower. With that out of the way I can get you all set up for a tour! Let's see here... you both get a 60% discount for being residents of Chicago, plus a 50% discount for being Members of the Firefighters making a total discount of 110%. Alright your total comes out to negative two dollars for each of you so here's that. Peanut took the money and tried to hand Declan his two dollars. </p><p>"Uh, no I'm good. You keep it."</p><p>Holloway put the money in their bag before turning back to Sharon. She said, "you should be all set! Just go around that corner and into the first elevator and it will bring you to the right floor!"</p><p>Holloway thanked the receptionist and headed around the corner towards the elevator. As soon as they were around the corner Declan blocked their path and said quietly, "Dude, what are you doing? This whole place is like, mega sus. We haven't seen any other people since we crossed the river and this tower is on some straight up ghostbusters shit. We;ve gotta leave."</p><p>"Declan Suzanne of the Chicago Firefighters, the town and city which we are from, this is a necessary part of your treatment. We must visit the landmarks of Chicago."</p><p>"What are you even talking about, we need to leave!"</p><p>To the notice of no one, a peanut that was in the place where Holloway's heart should have been started to smolder on one tip.</p><p>"We cannot leave until this stage of your sadness treatment has been completed."</p><p>"You know what, fuck you dude! I told you IM FUCKING FINE," with this final utterance, an unseen force slammed into the pair, sending them tumbling into the elevator. </p><p>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</p><p>The doors of the elevator closed and the carriage began to rise. Declan and Holloway slowly got to their feet in silence. Once they were both up the indicator above the doors landed on floor 9132. The door slowly opened on a normal, if empty of life, office space.</p><p>Peanut and Declan took a few steps through the door. The elevator disappeared behind them. They were surrounded by the mundane trappings of an open plan office, the only thing off about it was the thin layer of dust that coated all surfaces. Holloway turned towards Declan.</p><p>"I regret having to break my word but I think we must talk about the root of your illness in order to treat it."</p><p>"Look. I'm sorry about yelling okay, but our focus needs to be on getting out of here. Outside of being trapped in this building with you, I am totally, entirely, and, read my fucking lips here, one hundred percent okay." As soon as Declan finished speaking a wall rose out of the ground in front of him, bisecting the air between he and Peanut. </p><p>"What the fuck?!" Declan shouted.</p><p>"It appears that the building is able to move parts of itself. We should follow it to see if there is a way around or through it," responded Holloway. The wall had erupted in the middle of the room, stretching the long ways of the room. The... very long ways. When Declan looked down the wall it faded off into mist, where before he could've sworn the wall was only a few feet away.</p><p>"That's fine, I guess."</p><p>So they followed along the wall, finding not a hint of a crack in it. Soon Peanut spoke through their silence. "I must insist that we speak about your ailment. The others have told me that recently you have had a falling out with your partn-"</p><p>"He isn't my fucking partner don't be lame." Another wall shot up in front of Declan, just missing his nose as it sprung to meet the ceiling.</p><p>"Woah, fuck this!"</p><p>Holloway responded with what Declan would swear to be frustration, "Listen, we cannot continue without talking about him."</p><p>"I don't know who you're talking about." Another wall behind him. Declan was now trapped in a one-way office hallway, with three parts of the room cut off.</p><p>"Declan. I cannot help you if you won't TALK to me!" The peanut in the place of Holloways heart ignited. It sat there as a small flame, flickering in the dull, incandescent hue of the office lights. The hue of the lights turned a shade towards orange.</p><p>"How can I FUCKING TALK TO YOU, if you wont FUCKING LISTEN! I am not hurt or upset, my behavior isn't any FUCKING DIFFERENT. I SIT ON THAT PEANUT DAMNED COUCH ALL DAY AND PLAY MLADDEN UNTIL MY EYES BURN. I DRINK SO MUCH MOUNTAIN DEW CODE RED THAT MY FUCKING PISS LOOKS LIKE BLOOD. I'M THE SAME FUCKUP DECLAN THAT I'VE ALWAYS BEEN. I'M F-I-N FUCKING FIIIIINNEE."</p><p>"You are a fuckup. Even when someone tries to put forward every peanut in their invisible body forward and you can't even let them help. I wanted to help a human but I really did forget about humans because I FORGOT THEY ARE THE FUCKING WORST." The fire had grown to large to stay within Holloways body. It started to seep out through where his eyes and mouth used to be. They flowed with his hate, and as they did the room around started to light.</p><p>"I KNEW YOU DIDN'T CARE YOU STUPID NUT. NOBODY CARES ABOUT DECLAN. I'M JUST SOME FUCK WHO EVERYONE CAN LAUGH AT. AND," Declan's voice broke slightly, "and in the end he was exactly the same."</p><p>Holloway could hear light sobbing from the other side of the wall. It was enough to snap them back into reality and realize the inferno around him. The walls came down slowly, but there was enough space for Peanut to climb his way over the one between them and Declan to escape the blaze. When Declan noticed Holloway he quickly wiped the one-really-cool-badass-tear-which-definitely-wasnt-many-many-tears from his face.<br/>
"What happened to your clothes?! And why is your heart on fire?!"</p><p>"No time, we need to get the sprinkler system activated now otherwise this Slears tower is going down. We don't have time to call for backup."</p><p>A part of Declan's brain, a part of every firefighter's brain, clicked on. "Got it. Will a fire alarm activate them?"</p><p>"I don't know, the smoke alarm should've activated it by now, but that isn't working. You try to find the alarm and I'll look for a manual release valve."</p><p>"Got it captain, lets get some poggers on this one."</p><p>With the walls fully lowered, Declan started sprinting towards what he thought might be a fire alarm in the distance. He vaulted over desks and dodged office chairs as he went. <em>Just like goin for home.</em> Declan smirked.</p><p>In the opposite direction ran towards where the elevator had been. Their fiery heart now pulsed with purpose. Their fumbled to do up their fireman's jacket as the went, trying to get at least some protection from the blaze. As Holloway neared the door marked 'Stairs', a flaming ceiling tile fell right in front of them. They narrowly dodged sideways before turning their head to yell back, "DECLAN CAN YOU GET CANCER?" but the boy was too focused on his task. As he stepped through the doorframe of the stairs he looked back to see Declan's progress. "YOU FOUND IT?"</p><p>"YEAH BUT ITS OLD AS SHIT. THING WON'T BUDGE."</p><p>"TRY TO SEE IF YOU CAN FIND A RULER AROUND TO PRY IT WITH."</p><p>"HELL YEAH MINECRAFT STYLE!"</p><p>"WHAT"</p><p>"WHAT?"</p><p>Declan saw Holloway's coat turn back and descend into the staircase. <em>Fuck that was such a lame thing to say. Dammit.</em> But Declan had a job to do. He looked around the surrounding desks to see if there was anything t pry with. None of the surrounding work areas seemed to say anything. <em>Fuck</em>, he thought as he saw the fire spread across the other side of the building. The glare of the fire lite up the surrounding room, which caused something reflective to enter his vision. There, on a far desk, sat a metal ruler in a coffee cup reading, .worlds best fad'. <em>Cringe</em>, thought Declan, <em>guess that old nut was dead on</em>. It was going to be close. The inferno was cutting a path directly towards that death at break neck speeds. <em>Ump's tits!</em> thought Declan, but he knew what he needed to do. </p><p>Running even faster now, he bobed and weaved his way through the workplace hellscape. He made it to the ruler at a pace fast enough to make the PACER test jealous. He turned around the desk beautifully, grabbing on to the edge to reorient himself in the right direction. But the fire was fast too. As he ran neared the alarm a flaming cubicle wall fell towards him, forcing him to do a sick slide that would've made Tillman so fucking jealous if he had seen it. He made it back on to his feet as he reached the alarm. He pushed the ruler down behind the lever and pulled with all his might. In his eyes he could see the flames closing in.</p><p>Holloway heard the sound of harsh droplets falling from his place on the stairwell. <em>So he managed to do it, huh.</em> They made their way back up until they reached the door to floor 9132. It was hard to see through the sprinklers going at full blast so they started in the direction they remembered Declan being. As Declan came into view, Holloway could see him there, panting, sleeves singed, hand still on the stainless steel ruler he had found. As Declan noticed Holloway's flame moving through the mist he looked up.</p><p>"Fuck Tillman Henderson."</p>
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